Back from Death
by Dryas Octopetala
Summary: A wild adventure with Sanctuary favorites. When everyone on the planet is once again in jeopardy, can Helen, Nikola, and Will stop an old enemy?
1. Chapter 1

The alarm indicating a perimeter breach went off in Helen Magnus' chambers at the new sanctuary scarcely two hours after she had gotten to sleep. She sat up quickly, her head spinning with absolute exhaustion, and dressed with the speed and practicality of an established veteran. She only paused a moment to take a gulp of the half drunk cold cup of Earl Grey on her nightstand, and ran out the door and down to the Praxis Pod hatch. Will was already there.

"Any ideas?" Will punched in the code to the locked pod hatch and pulled out two stunners.

"I haven't the foggiest. However, the code entered was one from the original sanctuary, which were all flagged." Magnus took Will's proffered weapon.

"So the intruder…"

"The systems will to automatically lock them in the antechamber."

"Small mercies." Will didn't look as if he believed it.

"Indeed."

They had moved into the new sanctuary two weeks ago, but this was the first attempted break in. The defenses were theoretically better than the old sanctuary, but they were untested against real intruders. Helen had learned a long time ago that impregnable defenses were like unsinkable ships, and that overconfidence never panned out. To make matters worse, Henry had left Old City a week ago to spend some much needed vacation time with Erika.

They reached the antechamber, and Will looked in through the one way glass. He cursed and immediately unlocked the door.

"What –?" Helen didn't need to finish the question, because at that instant, Nikola Tesla strode in through the entryway.

"Nikola, I gave you a proper code for a reason!" Helen features had morphed from worry into anger instantly."

"Yes, yes sorry to disrupt your beauty sleep, but I _had_ to get your attention, and this was the fastest way. You should be grateful that I waited until I was here to wake you. You look lovely as ever, by the way." He smiled as Helen narrowed her eyes.

"Tesla, it is three in the morning." Will's eyes were already drooping.

"Nikola, why are you here?" Helen felt that the conversation was quickly going to veer off course if something wasn't done about it.

"Yes. Of course. We have a problem." His face was instantly serious.

"What kind of problem?"

"It's Adam Worth."


	2. Chapter 2

The name hit Magnus like a punch in the gut, more visceral than any other news Nikola could have delivered. She kept her face stony and impassive as she took in a breath.

"Adam Worth is dead, Nikola. There is no way that he survived, I made sure of that."

"Oh no, he didn't survive."

"Then how –?"

"Do you remember when I trapped computer Adam, or should I say, computer Hyde –"

"_You_ trapped?" Will raised his eyebrows.

"Alright, remember when _we_ trapped the consciousness of Adam Worth in the Praxian spider bot?"

"Yes, of course." Magnus' heart began to sink.

"Well, unfortunately, when the sanctuary was blown up, you, Helen were not the only thing to come out. Apparently, spider bots are more resilient than you give them credit for."

"Dear Lord."

"Indeed. Anyways, in an extremely unfortunate turn of events, those idiots down at SCIU got ahold of it, and sent it to their very best apes down in the lab. It seems that they underestimated the little bugger and it hijacked a rather questionable human cloning project. It, shall we say, altered the parameters a bit. I don't know if Adam's finished erm, _growing_ himself yet, but we have to hurry, those fools have no idea what they have."

"And you know this how, exactly? You were fired from SCIU." Will said.

"I still have my sources and connections since I left."

"There's something else, isn't there?" Magnus knew Tesla better than anyone, and there was something that he wasn't telling them.

"Yes, well, I did say that they sent the spider bot to the _best _goons that the government has to offer. And it just so happens that they also have all of my research."

"Nikola, what did you do?"

"Well, there's no way that any of the fools from SCIU could figure it out, but if Adam Worth comes back, and if I know Worth, there's nothing to stop him from using my rift energy node to power a well, a – "

"Another time machine." Helen breathed.


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you sure he'll have everything he needs to build a time machine?" Will said.

"Would I be coming to you otherwise?" Tesla utilized his most derisive sneer.

"Nikola I need to know _exactly _how you came by this information."

"Dr. Coates, an old colleague from area 51 messaged me when the Praxian bot freed itself." Tesla said.

"Wasn't that the one that came up with that lovely nickname of yours, Nikola?" Magnus smirked.

"Yes, from time to time she did call me, well, _Nikki, _but it's love, it can't be helped." Telsa's smile grew. "Helen, you in fact, are the only woman that could possibly come between us."

"_Nikki?"_ Will said, grinning.

"Don't laugh, Huggybear." The smile slid off Will's face.

"Wait, did she just called you out of the blue?" Magnus said.

"Well, it had been a few weeks, maybe a month or two, but, as I said, young love…"

"That's not suspicious at all." Will said.

"Well, it can't be helped." Helen pinched the bridge of her nose to stave off the headache. "Unfortunately, we can't leave until tomorrow morning when Henry returns, I won't leave the sanctuary unmanned. He should be in at around seven o'clock, and we'll be ready to go by then. Nikola, was there any other information?"

"Nothing helpful."

"Alright, Will, you know what we need, and get Nikola what he requires for the break in."

"Why _me?_" Tesla said.

"Because you woke me up at three o'clock in the morning. Eight AM sharp. Be ready."

And with that, Helen Magnus quelled the fear in her heart, took a deep breath, and turned to go back to her room. An impossible enemy had returned, and the last time she had faced him, she had spent over a hundred years in isolation. Guilt and worry and overwhelming fear washed over her in that moment, her memories of Adam rising like bile in her throat. Will, walking next to her, put his hand on her shoulder.

"We'll get him Magnus, for good this time." He quietly stated, with no doubt.

"Yes, of course." _Just like last time. And the time before. And the time before that. And - _


	4. Chapter 4

Will stared at the facility with an appraising eye. It looked like a cookie cutter copy of the building that Magnus and Henry had broken into to find Tesla working at SCIU.

"Home sweet home, Tesla?" Will said.

"Very amusing William, but I have cut all emotional ties from SCIU. Now – "

"And pray tell, Nikola, what is Dr. Coates? If she's not an emotional tie I don't know what is." Helen rolled her eyes as she said it. Tesla ignored her and pulled out a roll of paper from his jacket. He spread it out on the dashboard, revealing detailed blueprints. Will and Magnus leaned forward to examine them more closely.

"We're going to enter from the auxiliary entrance here." He pointed. "Unless SCIU has overhauled their entire security system, the door scanner and locking system runs on an oscillating frequency. There will be a security gap, at noon, and the guard should be gone for approximately 90 seconds, and then all I need to do is –"

"Really Nikola, you have that much control over your magnetic abilities? You'll be able to locate the exact frequency?" Helen looked impressed in spite of herself. Tesla grinned.

"Yes, of course. Once we're inside, the human cloning project will be located either here or here – those are the only places in a facility like this one that will have the parameters for that kind of experimentation. However, if Worth has already got himself a brand new body, most likely he'll head straight for the equipment SCIU filched off me, most of which should be located in the central hub there." He pointed to a very obvious large space in the middle of the facility. "Let's go."

The three of them quietly filed out of the van, Helen and Will with stunners in hand. There was a tense moment as Tesla pressed his hand to the door, and Will kept his gaze on his stopwatch.

"40 seconds, 35 seconds, 30 seconds." Will whispered.

"Be quiet William, I'm busy being a genius." Tesla closed his eyes, his eyebrows drawing together.

"Nikola, are you absolutely –" Magnus began, but Tesla shushed her with a violent wave of his hand.

"Tesla, unless you get that door open in under ten seconds we're going to come under fire." Will had his stunner out and ready, trained at the corner the guard would come around.

"Got it, got it, go!" The door popped open a split second later. Frantically they tumbled through the door, snapping it behind them with an ominous echo.

"Well, for better or worse, we're in." In the half-light of the gray hallway, Tesla looked grim.


	5. Chapter 5

"Something's wrong." Will furrowed his brows, and shifted his supply backpack to the other shoulder.

"No. Really? I thought we were just here for old time's sake." Tesla said.

"Listen though – at a facility like this there should be activity, sound, people, machines, whatever. There's nothing."

Will was right. After the cacophony of their break in, there had been no other sound. There was some illumination, but only from the emergency lights. The three of them froze, and then sprang into action within a moment as comprehension set in. "Straight to the central hub!" Magnus' mouth formed into a thin line of determination. As she ran, she felt the cold steel of her browning automatic that she had tucked hidden in her waistband. It was superstition really – Worth was physically just as mortal as anyone else, and a stunner weapon would take him down, but for the occasion the conventional weapon felt right somehow.

As they ran, Tesla leading the way through the labyrinth of corridors many of which were in utter disarray, Magnus talked.

"Remember, we don't know how much this being will be like Adam and how much he'll be like –"

"Hyde?" Will puffed.

"A machine. But yes Will, he may or may not have the same personality disorder as the original Worth."

"From what we saw last time, he's not lacking in the psychotic rage department. And hush, we're almost there." Tesla raised a hand to stop them. Unlike the rest of the building, the central hub was fully lit, and bright fluorescent light shone in through the open double doors of the hub's main entrance.

"I don't like this at all." Will whispered.

"Indeed, but there's nothing to be done – if I remember correctly, this is the only way in unless we want to spend time unlocking the other doors. We just have to go in." Magnus held her stunner out and led the way around the corner.

In the center of the room with his back to the door stood Adam Worth, wearing only a hospital gown. He turned and tapped his bare feet on the concrete floor, looking almost disappointed. Behind him Nikola's energy node was reassembled and glowed bright blue, surrounded by a monstrous creation of wires and machinery that didn't resemble Worth's previous time machine at all.

"I was wondering when you'd show up." Adam Worth smiled without his eyes. "You fell for the game, hook, line and sinker. The great Nikola Tesla, Doctor Helen Magnus, and her trusty Concubine, fallen for a simple ploy." He laughed. "Nikki, _please_, the big bad Mr. Hyde has come to get us all." He mimicked in a high pitched voice. Tesla stared stone faced, rage etched onto his features.

Will and Magnus aimed their stunners at Worth, but they flew out of their grips and smashed into the wall.

"Oh, if you could see your faces! This is priceless indeed, better than even I imagined. And you brought young concubine!"

"Adam, stop this now." Helen felt like her feet were frozen to the ground, up to her calves. The leaden feeling grew stronger and stronger until she heard a hiss of pain from Will to her left told her that she wasn't the only one.

"Oh no, I'm just getting started. I want this to last. But before we truly begin, you'll never guess what Adam's done, the clever boy." Worth bounced on the balls of his feet.

"You altered the clone DNA." Tesla swallowed convulsively, still stuck on the fact that he had been duped, and that his old coworkers, however useless or puerile, were most certainly dead.

"Ahhh, Nikola. And you're supposed to be the smart one. You know that this body isn't a proper clone – that would have been unacceptable. This body is something entirely new. But yes, I've altered the genetic makeup. We're going to have _so much fun!"_

With that, Adam Worth turned, pressed an unassuming button in the nest of wires, and the entire room was engulfed in the unmistakable light of a time portal.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello world wide web, this is my first fan fiction, so I would really appreciate some feedback. I apologize for the extreme melodrama, but Adam Worth just demanded it as a character. Anyway, please post constructive feedback and criticism if you have time. I do know where this story is going, so the overall plot elements will stay the same. Thank you!**

Will's entire body hurt, from the follicles at the base of his hair, to each and every one of his ribs. There was grit and sand enmeshed in his cheek, which was pressed into an irregular rocky surface. As consciousness began to return to him in minute degrees, he stayed still and listened to the ambient noise around him. Somewhere he could hear dripping water echoing through what sounded like a…a…Cavern maybe? He strained his ears.

"Wake up, dear concubine, and join your friends." Worth breathed in his ear, giving Will a jolt. He opened his eyes, and his heart sank.

They were in a huge rocky cavern, littered with debris from the central hub. From the very top of the deep hollow, he could see faint daylight. Magnus was awake as well, but standing behind Worth. From the unnatural way she held herself, Will guessed that Adam had her in a telekinetic hold. He looked around and saw that Tesla lay still, on his back with his arms splayed up above his head. Tesla took in a deep shuddering breath and Will breathed a sigh of relief. _Still alive. _Despite the mad scientists annoying tendencies, he didn't want Tesla dead.

Will sat up, ignoring his throbbing head, and attempted to stand.

"Not so fast. Stay right there." With a glance from Adam, Will felt the intangible and impossible pressure on him again. "We're waiting for a guest."

Will opened his mouth to speak, but simultaneously felt the air being violently pushed back down his doubled over until Worth released him a moment later.

"Don't speak darling shrink, the show's not begun just yet. Helen's already had her lesson." Worth said. Will took deep breaths, the unnatural intake of air had made him dizzy. He glanced at Magnus, who looked pale.

"Oh, I think I can hear our guest coming now." The thudding sound of running boots came echoing down from down the natural corridor of stone.

"Who's there?" came a shockingly familiar voice from far away.

Helen attempted to call out, to force at least a truncated warning out of her throat, but ten feet away Worth twitched his fingers and silenced her with his sinister new power. Unlike with Will, he kept her in the telekinetic choke hold long enough for her to fall to her knees, her face turning bright red.

Just as Helen's vision began to tunnel, the sound of running footsteps rounded the corner, and Will closed his eyes. It all made sense now. He was the one person after Helen Magnus that Adam Worth hated more than anyone in the world. Alive or dead.

Tesla chose that moment to wake up, speaking before Worth could silence him.

"James, what a surprise. Do sit down, I'm afraid we've started without you- oof." Adam knocked the wind out of Nikola, literally. Slowly, Worth turned to face Watson, whose face had gone whiter than parchment.

"Don't worry James, we didn't really do anything important without you. But of course, where are my manners. Nikola was right, of course, do _sit."_ And with that, Watson was forced to his knees.

"Adam, don't – " Helen began.

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT I CAN AND CANNOT DO!" He screamed suddenly, and they all jumped, impossibly tense as they were. Adam grabbed her face with his hand rather than telekinetically, and wrenched it at an angle, before letting go. Tesla hissed, but Worth continued brightly, his mood swings taking him to extremes. "Helen, I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that the year is 1908, at the turn of a new _bright_ century."

Magnus furrowed her brows, thinking of Imogene. Adam saw her confusion and laughed out loud, reveling in his power.

"Oh, I learned that _that_ wouldn't work long ago. No Helen, I'll not ruin the few happy years Imogene had by going after her again. And I can't recreate a cure without goin' back to Praxis. No, this time is different. You ruin my life, and I'll ruin yours. Since you care so much about your precious _history_, I'll change it right here, and make you regret the day you ever decided to let my daughter die."

"Adam I didn't –"

"Yes Helen, you did. And when you die here today, I want you to remember that it was _all your fault_. You could have left well enough alone for the second time, but you had to mettle. And thanks to you, the great James Watson is going to die here today too, and I can think of at least two wars that will end rather differently if he goes, hmmm? Maybe not, who knows? We'll see where the dear old butterfly effect takes us on this one, alright? Oh dear, excuse me for being so inconsiderate, _you_ all won't be seeing much more of anything besides this fine cave here."

Earlier, Will had thought that Tesla was a mad scientist, but Will realized that he was wrong. Adam Worth was completely, utterly insane, and they were all under his power.

Adam Worth, or rather Mr. Hyde, turned and grinned widely at the expressions on his captive's faces.


	7. Chapter 7

James Watson was confused, which wasn't a state he was used to being in. He had gathered that Worth, Tesla, Helen, and the man he didn't know had traveled from the future, but the mystery of how exactly Worth _survived_ his last encounter with Helen evaded him. Actually, he wasn't sure how Worth had survived either time – falling off a cliff seemed like a hard thing to pull through. However, while it was remotely possible to survive falling off a cliff, disintegration seemed like a most difficult experience to recover from. Watson was so worried that he didn't even think about the implications of what Adam had said, except to wonder how many wars could be fought in one lifetime. It was quite evident that this was the Helen he had encountered ten years ago in London, traveled back in time yet again. Despite himself, he looked at her and thought about how she was now over two hundred and seventy years old. She looked exactly the same age as she had the day they injected the source blood at Oxford, the same age that she did now. James had a plan for a device to extend his life, but he would apparently never get to build it.

"Hell-o-o, James, anyone home?" Worth waved his hand in front of Watson's face. "Still with us? I must warn you, don't speak, I'm not in the mood. I'm going to deal with dear Helen first."

To her eternal credit, Helen Magnus managed to look unafraid as Worth speculatively stared her down. Worth took out an ominous looking energy blaster and lightly placed the barrel on her check. Magnus stayed stock still, her eyes pointed directly ahead, barely registering the panicked looks on the faces of her companions. Worth laughed and put down the gun.

"Oh Helen, I can't tell you how long I've waited for this moment. You're not going to get out that easy."

"Adam, your penchant for melodrama never ceases." Helen said.

"I'm going to enjoy this Helen, up to the very last moment, you can be sure of that. Everything and everyone you ever cared about is going to _burn_." Adam walked closer and closer until the last word was spat into her ear.

"One civilization wasn't enough Adam? You murdered millions of people and destroyed an entire way of life. Is that what you want for the surface as well?"

"Adam's not here, Helen, it's just me. And the Praxians deserved everything they got. I'm _so_ sorry to hear about your father, by the way. I assume he was in Praxis when my experiment succeeded? And Johnny boy as well, isn't that right? My, my, Helen, dropping family members like flies, aren't we? I mean, first you off your own _daughter _–"

"Stop it Worth!" Tesla snarled before Adam cut of his air.

"Feeling chivalrous, are we Nikola? It doesn't suit you.

"It's not chivalry Worth, it's the truth." Will waited to be strangled once more, but Worth just stared at him.

"Concubine, I'm surprised. You're one of the expendables, just like dear Ashley was. But I suppose you always were a rather loyal concubine, weren't you William?" He turned back to Helen. "Got him brainwashed quite nicely, I see. Congratulations. Where was I before I was so rudely interrupted by Nikola there? Oh yes, _family_. You see Helen, I thought we shared something. The loss of a daughter, hmm? But you're one cold heartless bitch, aren't you? You didn't even think about saving her the second time around, did you?" Helen didn't answer. "DID YOU!"

"Of course I did, Adam! But can't you see? Time can't be fooled with, not by me nor anyone else! Ashley –" Helen choked on the name, "Ashley is dead and there is nothing I can do about it. I accepted that a long time ago." Helen closed her eyes to stop the tears. This was exactly what he wanted, to break her down, bit by bit, before she was utterly decimated. She would _not _give him anything else, no matter what he said.

"You _accepted _you own daughter's death? Well, I guess it's understandable, since you're the one who killed her in the first place." Magnus couldn't hold back her tears, and they silently slid down her face.

"Poor, poor, Helen Magnus, no James, no John, no daughter, no father, you just can't keep anyone alive can you?" Magnus took each name like a blow.

"Adam – how will causing total annihilation of surface civilization help anything?" Helen made one last ditch attempt at reason with the madman. She could see how easily the world would fall to chaos without James' aid in World War I, let alone World War II. His genius had saved millions of lives, perhaps billions when played out through time. Adam Worth was going to send the planet into a nuclear winter with the death of one grief stricken man hell bent on revenge.

"Oh Helen, do you really think that will work?"

"It was worth a try."

"I think it's almost time to bring this game up a level. But first, I have been egregiously ignoring my other guests." He said, winking at Will and Tesla.

"James, you've been awfully quiet, cat got your tongue? You can't escape you know."

"Your lunacy goes beyond words, Adam." James swallowed, and stared into the face of a man he had thought never to see again.

"Oh, how delightfully _witty_, the great Sherlock Holmes. _Your lunacy goes beyond words. _I am incredibly impressed. How about you Nikola, how is it to see James again, young and spry? I love these little class reunions. But this is getting boring."

Lightning fast, Worth turned and fired his energy blaster at Helen, who flew backward into the cavern wall with a sickening crack and laid ominously still, blood pooling around her midsection instantaneously. James, Nikola and Will all cried out in shock and rage, with expressions ranging from disbelief to total fury.

"Goodbye Helen." Adam Worth said.


	8. Chapter 8

Helen Magnus felt the fatigue deep in her bones, more exhausted than she had been in a long time. Every instinct that she had screamed for her to give in to the spiraling darkness, but the smallest voice of reason in the back of her mind demanded that she hold onto consciousness. She had to remember… remember…something important… She was so very cold. From far away, she could hear talking, people yelling. Where was she? Her head pulsed and a rivulet of blood crept hot down her face to her collarbone. Helen could feel her heartbeat in her temple. She heard James' voice yelling angrily, and Nikola's. Were they fighting again? If James had insulted Nikola's mustache again then heads would roll… But no, wait, that couldn't be – James wasn't… James had… was that Will talking now? Actually, he was yelling, why couldn't he just let her sleep? It truly was freezing, someone would have to light a fire, and perhaps tea… Earl Grey would be lovely… Why on Earth was everyone yelling, and what had happened? She had blown up the Sanctuary! No, that was weeks ago, this was different. This was… this was… Was she dreaming? Everything was spinning wildly fast, the entire room tilting wickedly like a ride at a fair. Ashley loved fair rides when she was little. Helen would have to tell…

Like a floodgate opening, memories and senses and sounds rushed in all at once. She could hear Nikola's deep vampiric voice, and Adam replying with glee infused in every syllable. Nikola always transformed when he felt vulnerable. She remembered everything, all the way up to the intensity and insanity of the look on Adam's face as he whirled to fire his weapon. But that wasn't the most important thing.

Pain was everywhere, and the brief moment of respite her mind had granted her was over. It came in waves, tsunamis emanating from her abdomen, and Helen barely had the wherewithal to not scream out in complete agony. A secondary ache came from her head, where she had hit the cavern wall. Briefly she wondered how bad her head injury was, and if she should be more worried about that or her abdomen. A cold clinical part of herself reminded her that damage to her brain or her internal organs wouldn't mean much of anything if Adam had his way with her friends and the timeline, but she quashed that thought and tried to focus on what was happening.

Will was talking again. _I am so sorry William_. Even as a young boy, she had seen his promise. Helen could think of no one better to have as a protégé, a second in command, or successor. His mind was as least as sharp as James' had been pre-source blood, and his ethical compass was spot on and unshakable. Will would even contradict her at times, questioning everything… That was important in a protégé, even if it was bloody annoying. She knew from experience. Helen could recall several employees on the spot who hadn't even put up a…

Suddenly, Helen realized just how perilously close she was to losing consciousness again, and she knew that she would soon reach a point where staying awake would become impossible, no matter how much she fought or how important it was. Already, her focus was slipping again, as her mind flitted to memories of texts regarding acute injury and blood loss. Helen realized that she could no longer feel the constricting pressure of Adam's telekinesis on her. _Already forgotten about me, Adam?_ She thought with a small wave of vindictive pleasure.

In impossibly small increments, she opened her eyes a slit, and winced at even the dim light she let briefly registered that Adam had his back to her. Helen felt a pang of distress as she saw that he had Will by the throat, but it subsided marginally when she saw that Will's feet were still on the ground and Adam didn't seem particularly intent on killing anyone at the moment. _Except me_.

With incredible care and a herculean effort, she reached slowly behind her and under her coat, to feel the browning automatic she had tucked in her waistband on a superstitious silly whim hours ago. _That make and model of gun certainly has had its share of time travel, as have I_. Helen extracted the gun millimeter by millimeter, thinking that any moment Adam Worth would turn around with a condescending laugh and crush her hope of saving not just her friend's lives, but the lives of everyone on, and in, the Earth.

* * *

**Thank you for the lovely reviews, I truly appreciate them. I wasn't really sure whether this story was going to go anywhere, as it really started over a temper tantrum regarding the end of Sanctuary, which I just finished. Tell me what you think - I feel a bit like Moffat (with a fraction of the talent), putting Magnus through all this.**


	9. Chapter 9

Will had called out when Magnus was shot, but now he was frozen. Helen Magnus could. Not. Be. Dead. She had given him a home, had adopted him into her world and her family by proxy. Doctor Helen Magnus was the toughest human being around, hands down, and she simply couldn't be gone.

"Helen, Helen! Wake up!" Tesla and Watson were yelling simultaneously. Worth wasn't stopping them from yelling, he was just watching their distress.

"Oh Concubine, are you sad?" Worth sidled up to Will. "Don't be sad, concubine, she was old anyways."

"Helen Magnus is a thousand times the person that you'll ever be, Worth!" Will realized that he was yelling, and closed his mouth. He couldn't take his eyes off her still form. She was partly obscured by a small boulder, but did he see a tiny shift in her position? Quickly he looked back at Worth, to stare him in the eyes.

"And Helen called _me _melodramatic. Dear dear, aren't you supposed to be a shrink? I am crazy, after all. There was a time when you had morals – weren't you _so_ very angry when you found out how Helen _shot_ me the first time?"

"Times change."

"Indeed they do. Be quiet for a moment, will you Will?" Worth chuckled at himself.

With an almost curious look on his face, Worth lifted his hand like a puppet master at work and lifted Will off the ground with his new power. Despite himself, Will yelled out. The telekinesis felt like a vise on his chest, compressing his ribs and lungs and heart into a dense block.

"I said be _Quiet_!" He shook Will back and forth like a rat captive in a dog's mouth.

"Hasn't the telekinesis made you tired yet, Adam?" Watson's normally amicable face was hard.

"Not yet James, I'm not even _close_ to being done. I had meant to save Helen for last, but I just couldn't wait to see the looks on your faces. How is Helen by the way – Helen?" He turned and glanced at her still form. "She _might_ still be alive, but not for long."

"I daresay I wish I'd done you in when I had the chance." Watson said.

"Oh no, you wouldn't want to mess up the precious timeline, would you?"

"Adam, would you like to put me down so we can have a nice chat, just the two of us?" Tesla said. He had transformed almost involuntarily. His eyes were dark, and if looks could kill Adam Worth would be nothing but dust on the ground.

"Nikola, you'll be a bit more difficult to kill than Helen, but I do know that you can die. Nikola Tesla, the man who killed off all the vampires. Or did Helen do that? It wasn't really clear inside your head, you know. How did it _feel_, Nikola, killing off the rest of your kind?" Despite himself, James' eyes widened as he turned to look at Nikola. The Nikola of his time would do anything to meet a vampire, worshipped the memory of his ancestors.

"It was a joint effort, Adam. Not unlike killing you." Tesla snarled.

"Oh, Helen most certainly killed me, Nikola. Don't lie. I may not have been there the first time around, but my memory is just fine. Well, almost fine. You know how it is when you've been converted from _bytes._"

"Of course Adam. By the way, how _is_ that working out? I know that growing a new body can be so difficult. Shall we call you Frankenstein now?" Tesla's deep voice was seething with unconcealed loathing.

"That's _Doctor _Frankenstein to you."

"How about Victor – or maybe you're not the Doctor, perhaps you're the Creature, eh?"

Will saw that Tesla's taunting was going to eventually push Worth even further over the edge, and get him killed even more quickly. Will reasoned that if he didn't at least try to use his skills as a psychologist, then he would be a very poor doctor. This probably wouldn't work, but he had to make an attempt. Before Worth could reply, William cut in.

"You know what I think?" Will asked. "I think that your new body is confusing you a bit, which is understandable. You obviously identify heavily with Adam Worth, and you have many similarities, and even some shared memories, but you need to realize that your identity is separate from –"

Suddenly, Worth lunged forward and grabbed Will's throat with his bare hands, not his telekinesis. His face twisted into something belonging to a feral beast and he snarled with unadulterated rage. Will sucked in air at ten times the normal effort, frantically trying to get the oxygen he needed to his brain. Will could feel Worth's hand bruising his trachea, abusing his cartilage and the blood vessels in his neck. Will's hands flailed uselessly at his side, flapping on pure instinct. Worth stayed silent for a drawn out moment, looking into Will's face with searing intensity.

"I am most certainly Adam Worth, concubine, make no mistake about that."

"Oh Adam, you aren't going to lose your temper again are you? Young William may be annoying, but he's great entertainment, you've got to admit." Tesla said.

Tesla spoke quickly and quietly in his human voice and kept his eyes glued on Will's throat. Worth merely squeezed tighter, blocking his airways all together. With alarm, Tesla noticed that Will's face was developing the slight blue tinge of cyanosis around his lips. Watson was distracted by something behind Adam momentarily, but then flicked his eyes back to Worth.

"You know, I seem to not be able to control my temper today. Maybe it's a side effect of _dying_." Adam stopped abruptly and began to turn.

Several thinks happened all at once very fast. An enormous noise echoed through the cavern, exploding the air and rattling the teeth. Will fell hard onto the ground of the cavern, gasping in huge gulps of air and holding his throat. Watson fell to his knees, while Tesla rocked back on his heels but managed to remain on his feet.

Adam Worth lay on the ground with a small caliber bullet in the back of his head. His eyes were open, and his face was empty of all emotion. In death he was remarkably average and small. The sound of metal clattering to the ground tore their eyes away from the macabre spectacle.

Helen Magnus stood clinging desperately to the cavern wall with one hand, and clutching her side with the other. Aiming a gun whilst lying down wouldn't have been as sure of a shot, so she had used one hand to literally haul herself upright on the jagged surface. Her ghostly face had a bright scarlet line of blood running down from her hair, and her leather jacket had a gaping hole on her left side in nearly the same place where Nikola had been mortally wounded not so long ago. She stared back at her friends with relief, and sighed.

"Gentlemen, I'm afraid I've – I've been shot." She stated in a matter of fact voice before her eyes rolled back in her head and she crumpled to the ground in a heap.

* * *

**Woot- over 6,000 words! Anyway, sorry for the tautology, but thank you for the feedback. If you spy any grammatical errors or typos please do tell - it's a bit of a pet peeve for me.**


	10. Chapter 10

"Tesla, an EM field! Stop the bleeding! " Will tried to yell, but all that came out was a tortured whisper. The momentary joy he had felt seeing Magnus alive had ebbed until all that was left was a cold knot of fear in his midsection. Will fought to stand up and stumbled over to Magnus' forgotten supply backpack on the ground, fumbling with the zipper in his haste. He pulled out the med kit that Magnus invariably carried with her and ran over to her unconscious form, coughing as he went. Watson and Tesla were already by her, having removed her jacket.

"Let me see." Will said, and hissed as he saw the ugly gaping hole. This was not his area of expertise, and he would have to draw on early memories of medical school to treat her. Will bent over to check her weak pulse and breath. When he straightened, Will teetered a bit, his head still swimming from oxygen deprivation.

"Out of the way Wilheim." Tesla moved roughly around Will and began to treat the wound. Will shook his head slightly to clear it and began to assist, distancing himself emotionally from the reality of Magnus' injury. They communicated in short, to the point requests and demands, and Tesla didn't break the new nightmarish routine even to taunt Will.

Will didn't know how long it was until he managed to look at Magnus' comparatively small laceration on her forehead, which had a dark purple and yellow bruise blooming up around it like a grotesque imitation of a flower. Will cracked a cold pack from the med kit and placed it gently on the offending area, and wished that he could do more. He rocked back on his heels and saw that Watson was staring at them with a critical eye. Tesla followed his gaze and looked up as well.

"Hello James."

"Nikola."

"This is … Different." Tesla looked at his long dead friend.

"Actually, not for me." Watson said.

"Ah, right."

"How bad are her injuries exactly?" James looked at Helen and furrowed his brows.

"With proper medical care, she'll live." Seeing Watson open his mouth, Tesla continued, "_Modern_ medical care."

"She needs surgery. Tesla the time machine – you can fix it?" Will croaked, and looked at the decimated pile of machinery that littered the surrounding area.

"In theory…yes."

"In theory?"

"It looks as though everything in the central hub came with us, maybe even the whole facility. There may be even be debris in the tunnels surrounding us. I have all the materials, I just need to put them together."

"Tesla, do we have the chances of a monkey writing Shakespeare or a kid putting a puzzle together?"

"Somewhere in between. It'll take all of my genius."

"May I be of assistance?" Watson looked hopeful.

"Sorry James, but this technology is ahead of even me – I couldn't teach you quickly enough, and if I did, the timeline might be even more screwed up."

"Screwed up?" Watson furrowed his brows.

"Damaged." Despite himself, Tesla's mouth twitched up at the corners, an action that was not lost on Watson.

"Tesla, don't." Will guessed that the modern vernacular hadn't been an innocent mistake.

"What? Sorry, you know it has been over a hundred years, the English language was bound to –"

"Nikola?" Magnus murmured.

"Helen." Instantly, the three of them dropped to their knees. Will gently held Magnus' head and neck in place – they didn't know if her injuries involved her spine.

"What… where?" Magnus' eyes were half open as she struggled to look around.

"You were shot Magnus… remember?" Will felt a new fear building in his chest – the fear of brain injury. There was silence for a few moments as Helen categorized events in her head.

"Yes, sorry."

"What are you sorry about? You're the one who saved all of us." James spoke to Helen for the first time, leaning over so that she could see his face.

"James – it's been a while."

"Ten years for me. You?"

"If I told you, you'd be looking for me when the time came, and we can't have that." She smiled wanly and struggled to sit up, only to meet resistance from Will's hands on either side of her head and neck.

"Magnus, I don't want you moving your spine any more for the time being."

"Don't be ridiculous Will, it's only a –" Magnus' protestations were invalidated and cut short by the way her face paled dramatically when she tried to move.

"Here, I'll prop your head up, the stone can't be good for it anyway. Try not to move it anymore though." Will took off his jacket and stuffed it in the backpack to create a makeshift pillow. With her head at an angle, Magnus felt more autonomous and even managed to look dignified, despite the fact that the room was spinning around her.

"Now Nikola, can you rebuild…rebuild Adam's machine?" Her eyelids drooped.

"Yes." Tesla glanced at Will and James, noting Magnus' distress.

"Will, dear lord, your neck!" Magnus saw Will for the first time, his neck a mass of new finger width bruises from Worth's abuse.

"It's fine, really. Don't…" He saw that Magnus' eyes were closed.

"Helen, Helen stay awake!" Tesla nearly shouted and grabbed her shoulder.

"I'm awake, Nikola. Just… resting. My, this is ironic, isn't it?"

"Helen, you should know that I plan to take full revenge for your treatment of me when I was… indisposed. Role reversal and all that."

"Very mature, Nikola."

"Always." Tesla smirked at her, glad that she was joking again.

"James… Where are we? This would have to be an expedition that either I or Nikola was aware of in order for Adam to know about it."

"Yes, by the way how did he know things in your head? And how did he – ?"

"Not a chance, James. Just answer the question."

"Right. We're in a southern part of the Russian Empire known as Kazahk."

"Ah." Helen understood. _Kazakhstan_.

"And why are you here?" Nikola was in the dark.

"He's here to look for a mineral compound unique to this part of the world. It has potential for…" Helen was torn by fear of revealing too much to Watson.

"My device will work then? Excellent. It'll have to if I'm to keep up with the rest of you immortals."

"You need to find that compound, James, I won't tell you any more than that."

"Do you know exactly where this compound might be?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Well then, I guess I've got to find it."

* * *

**Thank you for the grammar corrections, I've made the suggested changes. I've done my best this chapter with historical and medical details, please bear with me. **


	11. Chapter 11

"Well, if I came back from _this_ expedition with the compound, then it stands to reason that I found it in these caves. This was a last ditch effort on a wasted expedition. This system stretches for miles though. Helen do you know anything?" Watson had a gleam in his eye, of a discovery not yet made.

"James, I really don't know where it is." Helen said.

"Well, if I found it the first time, it stands to reason that I'll find it again."

"Actually…" Tesla grimaced.

"What?"

"These caverns may have been made…slightly unstable by the introduction of a facility weighing several hundred tons."

"You brought an entire _building_ with you?"

"It wasn't exactly our choice James, in case you didn't _deduct _that." Despite himself and the derisive sneer he directed at Watson, Tesla glanced furtively over at Adam Worth's dead body lying across the room. Will looked too.

"I'll move him. Watson, will you help?" It didn't seem right to share the cavern with their dead enemy. Will had seen plenty of death over the past couple of years, between Medical School, the FBI, and the Sanctuary, but he didn't have to like it.

"Of course." As they walked away, Watson turned a critical eye on the unknown young man before him. "Do you study the behavior of men?"

"Sorry, I really can't say. What was your name again?" Will still couldn't really talk properly, and prayed that the genius standing before him wouldn't hear the false note in his voice.

"Nice try, but you definitely know who I am." Watson bent down and grabbed Worth's arms.

"Maybe, maybe not, but I still won't tell you what I do for a living." Will took the dead man's feet as they hefted him up.

"Well, I presume that you work for Helen." Watson said. Will didn't answer, acting like he was totally absorbed in the task of carrying the body. They moved him over to an adjacent chamber, out of the way. Again, Will was struck by how insignificant Adam Worth looked in death. He felt only slightly guilty about treating a dead person with such irreverence, and pushed those feelings aside when he swallowed and felt how sore his throat was.

"You're called Will?" Watson asked. Will merely nodded. "Can you at least tell me what _decade_ you come from?" Watson was watching the other man's body language like a hawk.

"Let's go see Magnus and Tesla." As the odd pair turned back to rejoin their friends, they heard Magnus protest loudly. Will and Watson ran across the cavern.

"Magnus, what's wrong?"

"Don't worry Will, it's merely that Nikola's ministrations are less than… expert." Helen attempted a thin smile.

"She keeps trying to move." Tesla sighed with exaggerated exasperation. "Doctor Helen Magnus, you are a terrible patient."

"Come now Nikola, my neck is fine – I can move all my appendages, I just need to look at the wound. You know I'm more qualified than either of you, no let me _up!."_

With that, Helen broke free and struggled to sit up, but when she reached a 60 degree angle she was overcome by a violent wave of nausea. She turned away from Nikola and promptly threw up her last meal on the stone ground. Unfortunately the twisting motion of her torso aggravated the wound in her abdomen.

"Ahhhh!" Helen yelled and flopped down to the ground, utterly spent. She clenched her teeth together and took in deep breaths through her nose, trying to ignore the small gray spots invading her vision.

" Damn it Helen, I told you! Don't move! I don't care how many degrees you have, you've got a hole in your side and you need to stay still!" Tesla said. Watson, standing behind her, put his hands on her shoulders to stop her shaking.

"Mmmmm." Helen didn't really hear Tesla; she was putting all her energy into staying conscious and not throwing up again.

"Helen, Helen, can you hear me?" Watson kneeled and pulled her hair away from the vomit.

"Magnus, stay with me here, take deep breaths." Will knew from experience that sometimes a friendly voice could keep someone from falling off the edge of consciousness that Helen was teetering on right now.

"I'm – I'm fine gentlemen, you can stop." In truth, her headache was getting worse and every word was another exacerbating factor. She wanted to keep that quiet. The doctor in her, refused to shut up. "Though perhaps I should stay awake for the immediate future." Helen cursed herself, seeing the tense reactions of the three men, and decided to keep taking to cover up. "James, I recommend you take…William with you to… to… help you find the compound. It's dark blue and… malleable. James, don't ask Will any questions about the future, and try if you can to disregard what Adam said. I know you wont, but…" Another wave of nausea assaulted her and she stopped to hold it at bay.

"I'll go with Watson, Magnus. We'll find it, and we'll be back before Tesla can even start work on his Franken time machine. That's a promise." Will looked with concern at his mentor and friend.

"Good. Will - do stay safe. James, I meant what I said about the future. It's off limits. The timeline is being rewritten as we speak."

"Let's go Watson." Will said, and with great effort turned away from Helen Magnus, picked up his supply pack, and headed off down a dark corridor with Sherlock Homes following closely behind.

* * *

**Whump... Whump... Whump. Anyway, sorry for the long gap, but life got in the way. On a side note, I am in Colorado for the first time ever, and I don't know how anyone manages to get anything done; I'm spending all my time trying to breathe. *From Sea Level*. **


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